JR and Minhyun were cute for the first day or two, but later they just got annoyingly cheesy, and so Ren had to lay some important ground rules.

“One: kissing only in your room, and no make-out sounds please; the walls are too thin and I don’t want to hear your slimy spit-sharing. Two: no cuddling in public dorm spaces. Three: I don’t know if this will be a problem, but absolutely no stuff in the dorm at all. No talking about it either. You want to get it on, do it without our knowledge,” he said with a wince. Aron and Baekho had to agree with the last part.

JR laughed it off awkwardly and Minhyun just bit his lower lip and conceded to Ren’s overbearing glare by agreeing to his rules.

But busy schedules had made it hard for JR and Minhyun to break Ren’s rules anyways, even if they wanted to. They barely ever had time alone, and so at one point, Minhyun suggested that they become roommates again, which JR instantly agreed to. (“FINALLY!” the maknae had yelled when JR broke the news to him.)

This meant they only had the nights to one another. Days were hectic with busy schedules when they were with staff and other members almost 99% of the time, but when the night fell and they were back in the dorm in the private space of their room, they indulged in one another for as much as they could given how tired they usually were. Usually that amounted to a kiss or two before falling asleep in one another’s arms. And when Minhyun woke up the following morning for their early schedules, he would softly kiss JR awake before moving on to wake the others.

Most of the time, it really wasn’t enough though, especially for Minhyun, who longed to have JR in his arms for longer. There was so much he wanted to tell him, so much he wanted to express that he couldn’t in the fleeting moments they had alone. The simple ‘I love you’ that was dropped in passing between schedules was not enough.

If this were Seongwoo, Minhyun would satisfy his longing by renting a love suite or a hotel room, but for some reason, it didn’t feel right to do that with JR. Minhyun was afraid that renting a love suite for them would pressure JR into doing things he didn’t want to do. He didn’t want to be suggestive or overbearing, so he reveled in their small moments, however insufficient they were.

-

Minhyun eventually figured out that Daniel knew the truth about his relationship with JR: when the Wanna One friends were catching up on the phone, Daniel, out of nowhere, asked: “how things were going with Jonghyun.” Minhyun immediately reasoned that this meant Daniel knew a lot more than Minhyun ever told him.

Minhyun thought through all the possibilities as to how Daniel could have found out, more specifically, from whom Daniel found out. He came to suspect one person: Seongwoo. There was no other possible candidate.

Minhyun was really disappointed in that. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Daniel to know, but he had trusted Seongwoo not to tell anyone. It made him uncomfortable that Seongwoo would freely share that information without telling or consulting him.

He wondered if Seongwoo had told anyone else…

Minhyun was mostly distressed because he knew that JR would not like it. JR was a private person who liked to keep his relationship a carefully guarded secret, so much so that he was unnerved when Seongwoo found out. For JR, Daniel finding out would probably be no different.

“Daniel knows, by the way,” Minhyun admitted to JR that night. “About us.”

“What?” JR was surprised. “How?”

“Probably Seongwoo,” Minhyun answered with a shrug. “I’m sorry.”

At that, JR just smiled and said: “this is actually a good segue into something I wanted to talk to you about.”

Minhyun narrowed his eyes. “What?”

“Before, I was afraid of letting others know about us, even the people we trust, because back then I wasn’t exactly sure what we were,” JR said. “But now I am, and so I want people to know. Starting with our families.”

In response to that, Minhyun lunged forward and hugged him: “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” he said.

For years, Minhyun had hid his relationship from everyone he trusted because of JR. Because of the secrecy, their relationship had always felt like a fantasy that never actually existed outside of them, outside of the very small number of people who knew about them.

Perhaps that was part of the reason it was so easy for Seongwoo to convince him that they were brothers and not lovers, and the reason Minhyun felt so compelled to end it in its premature stages.

JR’s current decision told Minhyun that a lot had changed since that time.

This wasn’t just their own personal fantasy anymore. They were really together.

-

When NU’EST was granted a full week of break from activities and schedules, JR and Minhyun were finally able to do what they had discussed: tell their families.

Sure, they could have face-timed or texted them to break the news, but both Minhyun and JR recognized that the importance of doing it in person. The needed their families to understand how serious they were.

JR didn’t realize how nervous he would be about telling his family until he was in the car and on his way to do so. It suddenly hit him that they could potentially be very unhappy about it.

Minhyun didn’t look nearly as nervous. On the contrary, he seemed blithe as he drove their rental car down to JR’s hometown.

“Aren’t you nervous about your parents’ reaction?” JR asked him as he was driving.

“Not really. I’m sure they’ll be happy,” Minhyun replied, seeming too confident about that.

“What makes you so sure? Isn’t your family Christian? Aren’t your parents kind of traditional?”

“Yes, but…” Minhyun trailed off. “I already came out to them,” he admitted. “They were… aware of Seongwoo.”

That felt like a slap on the face for JR. Until then, he was not aware that Minhyun’s family knew about Seongwoo, and he hadn’t even expected that they did. It was a little hurtful, because JR had been Minhyun’s lover for so much longer than Seongwoo had, but Minhyun’s family only knew about Seongwoo.

It reminded JR of the bitter reality that Minhyun’s relationship with Seongwoo was so much more real than it had ever been with him. JR felt his heart grow heavy, but he tried to hide how it made him feel by asking a question in as normal a voice he could manage: “when did you tell them?”

“About a year ago, when Wanna One had a concert in Busan. He had dinner with my family and we told them. I was very nervous back then, but they were surprisingly supportive. They said we suited one another and…” Minhyun stopped when he turned his head towards JR and realized that the words were hurting him. “Jonghyunnie…”

Minhyun always knew when something was disturbing JR. No matter how good JR was at hiding his true emotions, no matter how much time passed, no matter how much had changed, Minhyun could always tell when something was not right with him.

“You don’t like it when I talk about Seongwoo, do you?” Minhyun asked.

“Please don’t think like that. I don’t want you to feel like I’m preventing you from sharing your memories with him,” JR answered.

“I won’t talk about him anymore,” Minhyun decided. “Now smile please?”

JR offered a weak smile, but he was still not in a particularly good mood. In addition to the nervous jitters he had at the prospect of coming out to his family, he felt self-conscious of himself next to Seongwoo, and guilty for making Minhyun feel like he had to shut out all the pleasant memories with his ex.

-

JR made a conscious decision to suppress his sour mood and instead try to enjoy their holiday together. The first thing he did to help him feel better is just stare at Minhyun.

The thing about going on a road trip together was that Minhyun had to keep his eyes on the road and concentrate. Although they were finally alone after such a long time, there was only so much they could do with Minhyun’s mind and body focused on driving.

At one point, JR felt this overwhelming urge to kiss him. Staring at Minhyun’s perfect face and body for such a long time was bound to incite some need for intimacy that he couldn’t get with Minhyun driving.

He decided to do something he sometimes saw in the special animes he occasionally watched. He reached his hand and put it over Minhyun’s thigh.

The action startled Minhyun just a little, for he looked down on JR’s hand on his thigh and chuckled.

“What?” Minhyun asked, trying to stay engrossed by the road in front of him. JR could see the blush on Minhyun’s cheek, and it encouraged JR to rub his thighs just a little bit.

At this point, Minhyun had to remove one hand from the wheel to take JR’s hand and gently place it back at JR’s side.

Minhyun was still blushing when he explained: “I’m not the kind of person who can drive when he’s being touched like this. Trust me, for our safety you probably shouldn’t do that.”

Maybe if Minhyun had said it a little differently, JR would have found it funny and about it. However, Minhyun had implied that he was touched while driving before, and it was easy to figure out who had given Minhyun that experience.

The earlier sour mood from before was restored, and this time, it was worse than before, because he realized that Minhyun has had many intimate first-time experiences with someone other than him.

It felt like no matter what JR did, Minhyun would have probably already done the same thing with someone else, and that bothered him.

-

That night should have felt perfect.

Minhyun and JR arrived safely at JR’s parents’ home. When they revealed that they were dating, his parents were so supportive that it made JR cry out of relief.

But even though that was a happy occasion, JR still went to sleep with a glum feeling in his heart.

“Are you okay?” Minhyun whispered into JR’s ear after he climbed into the bed behind him.

“I am,” JR hummed, making space for Minhyun.

“You’re not,” Minhyun whispered as he kissed his boyfriend’s head. “I know you’re not.”

JR nestled against Minhyun, not denying it, but also not confirming it.

“I don’t want to talk and wake people up,” Minhyun whispered, “so we’ll talk in the morning, okay?”

“Okay,” JR promised.

-

When morning came, there was no time to talk. Whether it was JR’s mother asking Minhyun to help her set the table or JR’s father asking his son to go out and buy ingredients from the market, JR’s family had always kept them occupied.

JR and Minhyun did not complain. Even when more of JR’s extended family and family friends came to meet them, bringing daughters who were big fans of NU’EST or Wanna One, they held their polite smiles and did everything that JR’s expected of them.

And Minhyun hated it. He realized that they were only two days into their trip, and he hadn’t even kissed JR once. They barely even talked, and JR seemed to be upset by something that Minhyun did not have the opportunity to talk to him about.

As much as he enjoyed bonding with JR’s family, he needed alone time with his boyfriend.

Minhyun then realized with dread that, after they leave Gangwon and head to Busan to meet his own family, it would be the same; there would be no privacy.

Thankfully, after dinner, JR told his parents that he wanted to take Minhyun downtown to show him around. Even though his mother complained saying she wanted to spend every moment with him while she could, JR insisted and said it would only take a few hours.

“I’m sorry my family is so… overbearing,” JR said when they were out of the house and alone.

At this point, Minhyun could only feel was relieved that he finally had JR to himself and they could finally talk.

“Now tell me, what’s been bothering you since yesterday?” Minhyun asked as they strolled through the streets.

If this were two years ago, JR would have probably laughed it off and said it was nothing for fear of worrying his boyfriend; he was the kind of person who kept things inside his heart after all. However, he made a conscious decision to be different with Minhyun. Resolving to be completely transparent with him, JR wanted to avoid miscommunication with Minhyun, because it was miscommunication that made them drift apart in the first place.

And so, he opened up to Minhyun about his irrational jealousy of Seongwoo for stealing the experiences that should have belonged to him. Seongwoo was the person for whom Minhyun came out to his parents, but it should have been himself. Seongwoo was also the person who made Minhyun realize that he couldn’t drive while being touched, and that should have been JR too.

What other experiences further down the line would Seongwoo also have stolen from him?

Minhyun listened to JR’s concerns as they walked aimlessly through the residential streets of Gangwon. When JR finished spewing his heart out, Minhyun suddenly took both sides of JR’s head in his hands and kissed him straight on the lips, right in the middle of the street.

“Minhyun!” JR groaned, madly blushing and putting his hand over his flushed cheeks, “what if someone saw us?”

“This is the first time I ever kiss someone in the streets,” Minhyun said with a shrug.

JR smiled and bit his lower lip, shyly looking toward the ground.

Minhyun then took JR’s hand. “And you should know that things feel very different when you do them with someone you love. They feel like first times, no matter how many times you’ve done them before,” Minhyun said. “And I love you, Jonghyun.”

It was the perfect response, and JR’s mood was instantly lifted.

They spent the rest of that afternoon on their own little date, with JR showing him local cafes and shops, reminiscing childhood memories he had of the place.

It was during that date when JR felt like something needed to change. This was the kind of stuff he should be doing on his holiday, not meeting the teenage daughters of his parents’ friends.

“Let’s leave tomorrow morning. To Busan,” JR suggested as they were heading back home.

“What?” Minhyun asked, narrowing his eyes. They had planned at least two more days there before they headed to Busan, where they were to spend the remainder of their holiday with Minhyun’s family.

“If you’re okay with this: we can go to Busan, spend a day at your house, and then rent a room at a resort for the rest of the week,” JR offered as a meek suggestion. “What do you think?”

Needless to say, Minhyun was thrilled.

-

The days they spent at the resort had completely transformed their relationship. Everything that happened felt completely new to JR. Despite having dated for so long before, this was the first time he felt this kind of connection with his lover.

JR initially thought he knew everything there was to know about Minhyun, but in this trip, he was discovering something new every day. Like JR didn’t know that Minhyun’s ear were sensitive and that kissing and biting them made Minhyun squirm. JR didn’t know that Minhyun liked not being in control when he was in the arms of a lover. JR didn’t know that Minhyun liked being carried.

JR came realize that there were a lot of things that people hide from everyone around them. Even your closest friends can wear masks in front of you and hide important parts of themselves. Those true faces only show in the presence of a lover who decides to lay him or herself completely bare in front of you, as Minhyun and JR did toward one another.

There was still so much left to explore. And as JR gradually came to unlock the secrets of Minhyun’s body, it would sometimes occur to him that Seongwoo was probably the first to figure them out.

Seongwoo crept into JR’s thoughts quite often no matter how hard he tried to suppress it. JR didn’t understand why he was being so petty and ridiculous, but it was frustrating that he couldn’t control that toxic jealousy at all.

He wasn’t usually like that; only Minhyun could make him feel like that.

JR did not hide those thoughts from Minhyun. He was ashamed of them, but remained adamant in his decision to let Minhyun knows everything about him, even the worst of him.

“Did you ever cook for him?” JR asked one day when Minhyun decided he wanted to cook their dinner that night.

“I did,” Minhyun answered honestly. “But I burnt the food and ended up spending the night cleaning. And that date night ended up badly, to be honest.”

“Why?” JR asked.

“Because he saw my burnt chicken, laughed at me, and told me he loved me…”

“And that’s bad because… ?”

“Because I could never say it back,” Minhyun answered. “And it hurt him.”

“Oh.”

“That’s why Seongwoo and I never found fulfillment with each other. Even though we did a lot of fun and exciting things, Seongwoo wanted a part of me that always belonged to you,” Minhyun confessed.

JR blushed a little (which he felt bad about, because it felt like he was enjoying another person’s pain).

“To me, ot’s funny you’re always so self-conscious and worried about Seongwoo,” Minhyun said. “Because there’s absolutely nothing for you to worry about, JR. Because I love you. And I can honestly say that you’re the only person in the world for whom I’ve ever experienced that.”

JR felt peaceful and content when he heard those words from Minhyun’s mouth. He stood on his tip toes and kissed Minhyun’s cheeks to express his appreciation and delight in what Minhyun had just confesed.

Minhyun used that proximity to his advantage and took JR’s lips in his own.

It was in the middle of that kiss that they smelt something burning and frenziedly separated.

Minhyun turned off the oven, groaning when he opened it and saw the two burnt chicken s that he had been carefully preparing.

“Not again,” Minhyun moaned as he waved away the smoke away and pouted.

“Cooking just isn’t for you,” JR laughed.

Minhyun looked so cute, JR thought as Minhyun immediately began to clean up the mess he made. Typical Minhyun to never let a mess stay a mess for too long.

Poor Minhyun looked genuinely upset as he cleaned. Minhyun was someone who rarely made mistakes, and when he did, he looked like a puppy who lost his sense of direction. With a pout on his lips and an unhappy twinkle in his eye, Minhyun always looked cute when he messed up.

Small wonder Seongwoo told Minhyun he loved him after Minhyun burned his food back then.

“I love you,” JR told Minhyun, overcome with a sense of wholehearted endearment for his lover.

Those words changed Minhyun’s pout into a smile. He looked up from the pan he was cleaning to catch JR’s eyes: “I love you too,” he replied.

A/N: FIRST OF ALL, sorry it took long to update. Writer’s block drove me crazy + nu’est’s comeback kept me busy. But I FINALLY was able to write something after so much rewriting and reorganizing and pages and pages of deleted scenes lol.

There will be ONE more chapter (which is almost done!), BUT this is the end of the 2hyun part of the story. The next chapter will focus on other characters, so if you’re only here for 2hyun, you can stop reading at this point ^^

If you won’t continue, I just want to say thank you for reading all the way until here <3